Here's the next chapter, it's not as long as some of the previous ones, but it definitely will have some action and confrontations.
CT7567Rules: You make good suggestions, I've thought of those concepts myself. However, I don't plan to put any of that in this story, but those are definitely to be explored as we progress further into this AU. I agree with how you're envisioning their vehicle modes as their Cybertron versions of Earth's vehicles, that's more or less what I was going for.
Ch11: Interception
At an intersection point between two mountain peaks, a glowing blue and green vortex appeared out of nowhere, and out of it came the Autobots and their Union Alliance allies. The dragons exited the vortex last before it vanished from sight. The organic natives shook off the discomfort from their first ever GroundBridge jump, though thankfully no one got sick.
Optimus transformed into his bipedal form while the Autobots remained in their alternate forms along with their human passengers. The Prime scoped out the surrounding area as Ashelin and Torn exited Jazz and walked over to join him along with Terrador and Cyril.
"Governor, General, can you enlighten us on where we are?" Optimus asked the humans.
Ashelin explained, "we're within a mountain region called the Brink, the largest chain of mountains found on Elorin."
Torn looked around and said, "I recognize these markers, we're near a region I used to hike back during my Haven cadet days. Hardly anything is up here, save for the rough terrain and scarce mountain wildlife."
A large low HUMM interrupted them, coercing them to turn upward as the sound came from the sky. Jazz transformed and stood by his leader and the two humans. He already knew what was coming, and said with disdain, "well something is here, and it ain't native wildlife."
Everyone's eyes went wide with horror, while Optimus narrowed his optics at what just broke through the clouds. The Nemesis slowly approached close to their position, giving the Union Alliance their first full look at the Decepticon spaceship. Compared to the Ark, it was just as big, but far more menacing. It was like an aerial Dark Maker terraformer, and its presence alone sent shivers down their spines. The humans exited the Autobot vehicles as they observed the dark metallic spaceship.
"Oh boy," Daxter muttered while shrinking behind Jak's back.
"We're too late," Spyro plainly said with Cynder sharing his concern beside him.
"Actually, I think we're just in time," Jazz corrected him. His fellow Autobots transformed to their bipedal forms behind the humans they had transported.
"So, what's the play Optimus?" Sideswipe asked his leader, all eyes and optics now on him.
Optimus pondered for a moment before calling out to the Ark on his COMM, "Ratchet, do you read?"
"Loud and clear Optimus."
"We have arrived at the coordinates the beacon was originating from, but the Decepticons have arrived at the same time. Can you pinpoint the exact direction to where the beacon is coming from?"
"One moment…It looks like it's emitting a few kliks south of your current position, at the base of what appears to be a large cave."
"Over and out," Optimus signed off with Ratchet, and turned back to the allied group behind him.
"We must covertly make our way down and intercept them before they reach the beacon's location. Remember, engage only when necessary," he advised.
"Alright then," Torn nodded before turning to his militia, "you heard him men, the Autobots take point, but be ready to pump lead when all hell breaks loose. Now let's move!"
Jak turned to Spyro and Cynder beside him and said, "you guys got our backs and we have yours, right?"
"Always have and always will Blue-boy," Cynder grinned back, which lightened their moods. Jak just shook his head and turned about to follow the Autobots down the slope.
The dragons followed behind, guardians at the front, acolytes at the rear. Although Vacu thought he heard something behind him and turned to take a quick look at the woods. When nothing was visible, he shrugged and followed behind the others, not knowing that an eerie claw draped in shadow was approaching from behind a nearby tree.
Making their way down the slope, they had lost sight of the Nemesis after it disappeared over the mountain. Optimus deduced it had landed on the other side and they would teleport a ground unit down to investigate the Decepticon ship the signal was coming from. But as they made their way down, an eerie noise suddenly echoed among the rocks.
"Umm, what was that?" Sideswipe asked aloud.
"Don't look at me," Ironhide replied as he looked around.
All of the Autobots couldn't recognize the sound, but the Union Alliance did, for it was like they had just fought them yesterday…
Jak muttered to himself, "oh no…"
Cal looked up and pointed and shouted, "Contact up top!"
Everyone looked up in terror to see the uncomfortably familiar shapes of Dark Maker troopers crawling their way down the rock wall. The dragons and humans all scowled at their familiar foes while the Autobots optics widened.
"Woah! What are those things?!" Sideswipe yelled.
"Dark Makers!" Jak informed as he drew his gun, "hostile and extremely dangerous! Terminate with extreme prejudice!"
He along with the rest of the Union Alliance human militia aimed their firearms, coercing the DM troopers to jump to the ground. The soldiers opened fire, hitting a few in freefall, but not enough to stop them as they landed on the ground and engaged the humans in battle. The dragons aided the humans as they hit, swiped and blasted the troopers with their elemental attacks. The Autobots backed them all up as they fired their blasters at the troopers crawling down the wall. Another strange noise caused some of them to turn around, and they saw Dark Maker Hornets flying out of the open valley toward their location, their own blasters now firing at the allied group.
"They have flyers too?! Fantastic!..." Sideswipe shouted with sarcasm.
"Less talking, more blasting!" Ironhide yelled as he took aim at the Dark Maker Hornets.
"Forget them!" Jak shouted to the Autobot team, "we can handle these monsters, you guys go ahead and stop the Cons!"
The Autobots were skeptical, and Jazz asked on behalf of his team, "are you sure?"
"Yes, now go!" Jak said before shooting down another Hornet.
Spyro blasted away another trooper with an Earth shot before adding in, "Jak's right, we've fought these things before, we know how to deal with them!"
Spyro then turned to his earth guardian mentor and said, "Terrador! Cynder and I can help Jak and Torn's group, take the others and back up the Autobots, Please!"
Terrador had swatted away another trooper before addressing his former student, "Spyro! Are you sure?"
"Yes I'm sure!" Spyro said before releasing a firestream against another trooper. He let it burn before finishing, "...now please, hurry!"
Terrador nodded and turned to the other guardians and acolytes, "everyone on me! We must ensure the Autobots reach the objective first above all else, now let's go!"
Cyril and Volteer nodded first and led the four acolytes away as they fought through the surrounding Dark Maker ambush. An incoming platoon was subdued when Volteer and Zaxto together released an electric stream that paralyzed them, allowing Vacu to release an Earth Flail which knocked them away in defeat. All of the dragons, save for Spyro and Cynder, reached the Autobot group where Terrador addressed Optimus.
"Take point Optimus, we're right behind you!"
The Prime nodded to the Earth Guardian and gave the order, "follow me, swiftly!"
The conjoined group of Autobots and dragons made their way down the slope, hoping their human friends would be alright as they made their way toward the beacon.
Spyro and Cynder continued helping their human allies in fending off the Dark Maker hoard with their elemental and melee attack combinations. Torn and Ashelin along with Jak led the majority of the militia in attacking the land troopers with open fire. Meanwhile, Calidan, Striker and his Strike Force were concentrating their own fire on the Hornets in the air. Jak was surprised when Keira appeared off to his side, firing her own customized gun at the troopers.
"Keira, what are you doing?!" he shouted out of concern.
"What's it look like I'm doing Jak?! I'm shooting!" Keira yelled between firing, "You taught me how in case of situations like this, remember?!"
"Yeah, but this isn't what I had in mind!" Jak said back before firing his blaster at an incoming trooper, forcing it to pull up his shield. Instinctively, the rest of the troopers pulled up their own shields as the humans continued to open fire on them, pelting them and turning them slightly red as they took damage.
"Torn, their shields can only take so much damage! They'll break with enough fire!" Jak shouted to his friend and leader as he recalled the last time he fought these creatures.
Torn nodded and ordered his militia, "You heard him! Unleash hell men!"
The entire militia, backed up by Torn, Ashelin, Jak and Keira opened fire on the troopers' shielding, causing them to burn bright red before shattering, rendering them helpless as they were hit by the shots that followed. Daxter and Tess kept their heads down as they watched the battle from their respective shoulders. Spyro and Cynder meanwhile had taken to the air to help Calidan and Striker's group with the Dark Maker Hornets.
They adjusted their fire to ensure they wouldn't hit their dragon allies, though Calidan figured now was a good time to ask his C.O. "Sir, permission to engage the enemy in the air?"
Captain Striker accepted, "Granted."
Calidan nodded and holstered his blaster on his back before activating his Eagle pack, and leapt into the valley to take flight. Spyro and Cynder engaged the Hornets with ferocity, attacking with their grappling maneuvers that allowed them to execute their aerial spin or gut kicking attacks that left the monsters falling dead out of the sky. More Hornets were inbound to attack the young dragons, until something went and attacked them instead!
Eagle opened fire with his wrist blaster, knocking the Hornets away while gaining their attention as they changed direction to fly and attack him. Eagle let them chase him as he engaged in the dogfight, and weaved left and right as he dodged their laser shots. As he came for a loop around, Spyro and Cynder were waiting, and upon passing by, the Hornets were lured into a trap as the young dragons released potent fire and poison breaths which enveloped and ended them.
Eagle flew up alongside the dragons and said, "Thanks."
"Anytime," Spyro replied with a nod.
Cynder grinned as she recalled some words to her flying friend following their last adventure, "told you the Eagle would fly again, didn't I?"
"Never doubted you for a minute!" Eagle said as they shared a laugh. It quickly ended as another eerie sound drew their attention, and they all scowled at another incoming armada of Dark Maker Hornets. Something else became visible in the distance, and it was where this entire Dark Maker hoard was coming from. A large floating platform made of purple Dark Maker material appeared around another mountain, slowly approaching their position.
"Well, guess we know now where this particular hive is coming from," Spyro deduced.
"Meaning we take it out, we end this attack," Eagle reasoned.
"You still carry bombs with those new wings, right?" Cynder asked Eagle.
He replied, "actually, I think I might have something better in mind. We just have to-...Waaait a second…"
He used his goggles to hone in on the platform, and the one particular body that was standing atop it as the Hornets continued to expel from it below. Eagle angrily scowled, "...so, he IS back."
"Cal?" Cynder raised an eye.
"It's Errol," Eagle growled, "he's standing atop that thing, I'm sure of it."
Spyro and Cynder turned and glared at the platform themselves before the purple dragon said, "we need to get Jak up here, now."
The three of them flew down to persuade Jak to join them, who was all too willing to go after hearing what they had to say. After Torn and Striker gave him the go ahead, Jak and Daxter went with the three flyers while the rest of their human friends, including their respective girlfriends, Keira and Tess, stayed behind to finish off the Dark Maker land troopers. Jak had activated his Light Flight powers and was currently flying toward the hovering Dark Maker platform along with Spyro, Cynder, and Eagle in the lead as he was the fastest.
Upon approaching the platform, they saw how big it was, roughly the size in between a Dark Maker Walker and a Terraformer. Tentacle-like appendages dangled beneath a large top base, similar to the elevators in their former nest that was purged from Haven City. Hornets were zoning around it like a beehive, and upon seeing the approaching assaillants, swarmed together and flew directly toward the aerial group of four.
Eagle turned up to Light Jak and said, "go on ahead and get up top! We'll handle these bugs!"
Light Jak said nothing but nodded as he flapped his wings harder to increase his altitude while Daxter clung on for dear life. He made his way up to the top base while Spyro, Cynder and Eagle attacked the Hornet swarm head-on. Laser blasts, fire streams, and elemental shots littered the air as they engaged in battle.
At the same time, Light Jak reached the top and looked down to see the lone body who was standing near some sort of console mounted into the platform. The familiar shape of the head made Light Jak scowl as he deactivated his wings and landed in a three point stance before he and Daxter stood up and sneered at their archenemy. Their angst however couldn't mask their shock at the appearance of Errol's horrid new form.
"Well well, if it isn't my old chum…Jak, the Eco-freak…" Errol taunted in his ugly distorted voice.
"Son of a gun…" Jak sneered, "Just when I thought you couldn't get any uglier Errol, you prove me wrong."
"That makes two of us!" Daxter snapped at the Dark Maker zombie.
"Ohh, what's wrong boys? Does my new look unsettle you?" Errol further taunted as he creepily tapped his claw-like fingers. "Well get used to it, because from here on, it's a whole new game."
"Do I look like I'm here to play games?" Jak seethed as he pulled out his gun, engaging the peacemaker.
Errol chuckled as he assessed what his archenemy was doing, "I'm afraid that little toy won't work for you anymore."
"I'll be the judge of that," Jak said as he charged up a shot and fired directly at Errol. However, at the last second before it hit, Jak and Daxter were freaked out at the sight of Errol's body bending out of the way avoiding it, in a rather distorted manner that no human body could do!
Errol straightened himself as he grinned at their shocked expressions, "don't say I didn't warn you."
He further shocked them as he extended his right arm, and deployed the hidden blade from it. Jak and Daxter were horrified as Errol jumped into the air with the blade held high. His reflexes attuned as ever, Jak jumped away avoiding the deadly swipe, and soon found himself retreating back as Errol continued attacking with blade swipes.
Jak fluidly dodged each strike with Daxter clinging on his back, and jumped over into a roll avoiding one last swipe before landing a few feet away from Errol.
"Hehehe, good to see you still have your reflexes, that makes this all the more fun," Errol wickedly quipped.
Jak caught his breath as he stuttered to say, "what…are you?!"
"Me?" Errol self gestured before declaring, "simply put…I am your SUPERIOR!"
He retracted his blade and pulled his hands together, charging a deadly collection of dark eco energy, before throwing the Dark Shot directly at Jak. Jak jumped away, avoiding the blast as it hit the platform and exploded. Thankfully, he and Daxter weren't hurt, but he acted quickly as Errol advanced again with surprising speed. His new form, while repulsive, was certainly a lot more combat worthy compared to his last one, which made him more dangerous than ever.
Errol attacked with a pile driver, but Jak jumped back and flipped away to land on his feet, and decided to fight fire with fire. He released the beast, and deployed his Dark Jak state, growling at his dark eco cladded archenemy.
Standing behind his transformed best friend, Daxter was all the more unnerved as he surprisingly heard Dark Jak speak!
"Best…step…back…Dax…" he growled in an angry tone.
"Don't have to tell me twice," Daxter quickly replied before retreating away from the soon to be battlezone.
Having never actually faced Jak head-to-head in this state, Errol observed his archenemy's transformation with intrigue, "I've looked forward to this, try not to disappoint me, Freak."
Dark Jak merely roared as he lunged to attack, "RAAARGH!"
Errol jumped away avoiding Dark Jak's preemptive attack, and upon landing, deployed his right arm blade again to attack with another blade strike. Dark Jak met the attack with his own extended finger claws, proving their durability as the claws and the blade clashed together. Daxter watched trembling with fear as Dark Jak and Errol stood in a deadlock.
As they struggled to overtake the other, Errol said through gritted teeth, "looks like those things could use a trim…allow me to CLIP THEM!"
Errol released them from the deadlock and swiped at Dark Jak again, only for the creature to instinctively dodge and swipe with his own claws. The deadly exchange continued as the two dark eco creatures kept attacking one after another trying to draw first blood. Daxter was even biting his own nails in anxiety at the fearsome fight he was watching from the sidelines.
The exchange went back and forth until Dark Jak managed to knock Errol away with a hard left swipe. Pulling back his free arm, Dark Jak charged up another familiar attack, releasing the Dark Strike from his right palm, which headed directly for Errol. Sadly, Errol saw it coming at the last second and jumped, just barely avoiding the hit as it dis-apparated behind him. The two dark eco warriors growled at each other as they took a momentary respite.
Errol deployed blades from both his arms, while Dark Jak unsheathed his claws. They rushed one another with battle cries, and attacked, while ducking under each other's initial attacks. The two of them started clashing with claws against blades, with neither one giving an inch. Dark Jak soon gained an edge when he upper-cutted Errol under the chin and knocked him away with a follow up left swipe.
The dark eco pariah was knocked away, first blood drawn from his torso as he fell on his side. He seethed at his archenemy before attempting to get back to his feet, but Dark Jak took advantage of his prone status, and jumped with his charged right fist drawn back as it emitted dark lightning, just before he unleashed his ultimate attack. The Dark Bomb hit right in front of Errol with an echoing boom…
BOOOMMMMM!...
Errol was blown away over the platform from the force of the attack, while Dark Jak slowly returned to normal, having expelled all his energy. The console had been blown away being within the blast radius, all while Daxter was wise enough to stay out of its range. He ran up to rejoin his cohort who slowly returned to his original color as he panted to catch his breath, and then stood back up slowly onto his feet while his sidekick greeted…
"Boom! Yeah, now that's what I'm talking about! No one sticks it to scumbags like we do…especially as far as your dark mean and nasty side is concerned…" Daxter comically whispered that last part which made Jak roll his eyes.
Sadly, their victory was proven premature, when a sudden flash of dark eco lightning pulsed beside them. To their shock and horror, out of it came Errol, who landed ahead of them and greeted with a wicked sneer, "Did you miss me?"
Jak and Daxter were agape with disbelief, how did Errol do that?!
"What? Don't you realize what I am now?" Errol said before deciding to enlighten them, "allow me to explain. My new body, as I'm sure you can tell, mimics the features and capabilities of the Dark Makers down to the last cell! Including their coveted ability to teleport within a fixed range, comprende?"
Daxter yelled in a rant, "has anyone ever told you you're a dirty rotten cheater?!"
"You can splurge all the flattery you want," Errol said unperturbed by his insult, "face the facts, you…can't…beat…me."
Jak stood his ground and growled, "if I can't do it one way, I'll just try another…and another…and another…however many times it takes, I…won't…quit."
"Then shall we continue?" Errol taunted as they prepared to restart their battle.
"ERROL!"
The sound of the black dragoness angrily yelling his name caused the pariah and Jak to turn their heads and saw that Spyro, Cynder and Calidan had arrived, landing on the platform with them.
Seeing the rest of his old enemies all gathered together, Errol greets them with extreme satisfaction, "hello my old friends, it's been a while."
Their first look at Errol's new Dark Maker form all repulsed them and they replied in their own way…
Calidan muttered, feeling a bit nauseous, "...yuck, he looks even worse up close."
Spyro stuttered, "Errol, you're even more foul than before!"
Cynder growled, "you're not even human anymore. You're nothing but a walking corpse!"
Errol chuckled and sadistically replied, "That, my dear Cynder, is what now makes me superior…for you can't kill, what's already dead!"
Calidan sneered and pulled out his blaster from his back and snarled, "...then you won't mind if we try."
The group of heroes versus their shared archenemy stood vigil, preparing to begin Round Two…
At the foot of a Brink mountain, an opening leading to a cave large enough to fit a Cybertronian was present. A massive metallic foot planted itself outside the entrance, and the giant wicked metallic body it was attached to cast a vile grin in anticipation of what awaited within. Before taking another step towards it, he was interrupted by a sound coming from his left.
Making their way quickly down the mountain slope, the Autobots and the dragon allies found themselves at its end which led to the cave. Upon seeing who was waiting there, Optimus ordered, "Autobots, prepare to engage!"
Optimus, the Autobots, and the dragons behind them made the leap, and landed on the rocky outcrop outside the cave, standing straight across from the vile leader of the Decepticons.
While his Autobots primed their blasters and took aim, Optimus glared at his former friend with pure spite, "...Megatron…"
"Optimus, been a long time," Megatron greeted his old enemy with leering anticipation. The dragons all scowled with angry expressions, for seeing this planet traitor and murderer in person was far more unsettling than any hologram. The Autobots said nothing, but glared as they kept all their guns aimed at the Decepticon leader.
"You already have much to answer for Megatron, do you really wish to add yet another planet of innocent sentient lifeforms to your list of fatalities?" Optimus questioned with a pointed finger.
"This is war Optimus, there are always casualties," Megatron eerily reasoned, before noticing the whole group of dragons mixed with the Autobots, all different colored than Malefor, and with some just as large while others were not.
"I see you've made friends with the local wildlife. I'm not surprised, you were always one to side with the weak," Megatron grinned and taunted.
The dragon guardians and their acolytes growled at the Decepticon Leader, as their first confrontation with him already gave them a permanent impression. Vacu, in his impatience, spoke first with lividness, "...say that again, you miserable misshapen pile of metal."
"Easy Vacu," Terrador calmed his pupil, while keeping his own emotions in check.
"Ahh, so they talk, at least there's some measure of intelligence among these 'fleshlings'," Megatron mocked, earning an even angrier growl from the dragon group. The Autobots in turn, pointed their arm cannons straight at the Leader Con.
"Keep talking buckethead, and we might just shoot you on their behalf," Ironhide warned.
"Not if we tear him to pieces first," Saphira seethed.
"Saphira, don't," Cyril told her off, remembering Optimus's request to handle his own archenemy himself.
"I'm only going to say this once Megatron, step away from the cave, and surrender," Optimus declared.
"Is that all?" Megatron sinisterly questioned, "then allow me to offer this as a rebuttal…DECEPTICONS!"
His loud order was followed by a war cry from above, causing the Autobots and dragons to look up, only to be horrified by the giant falling metallic mass that was heading right for them!
"Fall back!" Optimus shouted, and they did without hesitation, just in time. The body hit the ground with tremendous force, kicking up a cloud of rocks and dust forcing them to shield their faces as it faded away. Standing up out of his makeshift crater, Brawl turned to growl at the group of Autobots and fleshlings, flexing his blade-like fingers as a means to intimidate. The acolytes were frozen while the guardians remained steadfast and the Autobots kept up their arms.
Brawl was soon joined by Barricade on his left and Knockout on the right, who drove by their master in their vehicle modes and transformed to stand on opposite sides of the Decepticon weapons tank, with each of them holding a weapon. Barricade deployed his arm cannons and Knockout held his electrostaff, twirling it in hand. The red Con medic taunted, "well well…look what the cosmos dragged in gentlemen…our old punching bags."
All three Decepticons snickered, while the dragons sneered at the terrible trio and the Autobots angrily scowled at their archenemies. Optimus kept silent, until he heard echoing footsteps out of nowhere, and the others soon noticed it too. Megatron didn't turn around, but wickedly smirked as his chief scientist made his entrance by slowly emerging from the cliff over the cave, shocking the Autobot and Alliance group overall. Shockwave jumped down and landed with a bang, right beside his master, while the Autobots and the dragons flinched at the sight of him.
"Ohh, bolts…" Jazz groaned, keeping his blasters at the ready.
"Gulp…the cyclops…" Vacu swallowed a lump trying not to be overwhelmed by the growing fear.
"Steady Vacu, steady," Terrador coaxed upon noticing his pupil's discomfort.
If the sight of the four high rank Decepticons weren't enough, a squadron of Airadicon drones flew in from around the mountain and transformed upon landing, surrounding the Autobot and Alliance party with their blasters primed.
"Scrap," Arcee muttered but kept her blasters aimed.
"I'm guessing you Autobots are familiar with scenarios like this?" Zaxto nervously asked.
"More than we care to be," Sideswipe dryly remarked.
Believing he now had the upper hand, Megatron then said, "Now then Optimus, you were saying?"
Optimus narrowed his optics and remained silent as he reassessed the situation. Megatron continued his taunt, "I believe it was something along the lines of, surrender? Well, now it's my turn to give you the option, otherwise…well, you know how it goes?"
The Autobots and the dragons found themselves in a standoff, surrounded by an army of invading destructive automatons, all knowing that whatever move was made next, was critical…
As I sign off this chapter, I would like to send a message for anyone reading who are artists...feel free to make any fanart of my story if you wish to, but please DO NOT leave reviews or private messages requesting commissions. I cannot afford to do anything like that, and I do not wish to turn this into some kind of business, fanfiction as I've explained in my profile, is purely a hobby for me. If you still wish to make fanart, you can send me a link through Private Message to where I can view it, and I'd be more than willing to do that. I hope this answers any and all fanart questions.